Prospect Ramblings

Catching you up on prospects moved or being shopped at the NHL trade deadline...plus some highlights from the prospect world.

Monday, March 1st, 2015

With Austin Wallace’s head buried in his textbooks preparing for his midterms (aka, watching “TradeCentre”) the two of us are swapping ramblings days so you’re stuck with me today covering Trade Deadline action.

While the focus will remain on prospects, I may feel inclined to spew out some opinions on deals that go down as well.

Touching on Yesterday’s mini-blockbuster with Arizona trading defenseman Keith Yandle to the Rangers for promising speedster Anthony Duclair, defenseman John Moore, New York’s 1st round pick in 2016 and a 2nd in 2015. This exemplifies a great hockey trade for two teams headed in two different directions. It also marks

February 2015 - Forced into more responsibility than expected because of disciplinary and health issues along LA's blueline, McNabb hasn't looked out of place, especially with his sometimes spectacular hip checks. However, his AHL offensive dominance (102 points in 159 games) has yet to manifest itself with the Kings. But that has more to do with a veteran coach and team than the defenseman himself. Even in limited time on the man advantage (he's averaging under a minute of PP TOI/game) he's shown flashes of impressive offensive creativity. -Sheng Peng

July 2014- McNabb will be heading into training camp with a new two year contract worth $1.3 million. This is a sure sign Los Angeles will be looking for him to step up and earn a spot in the Kings defense. One thing the team says, if he doesn’t, they are not going to bring him in too early. At 6’4” and 205 pounds, McNabb is a physical presence on the ice and is a force at the blue line. One of his biggest assets to fantasy owners is his above average passing which has led to 102 AHL points (20-82-102) in three seasons. Pete Richmire

March 2014 - Brayden McNabb was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on trade deadline day for prospect Hudson Fasching and defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers. The former 2009 3rd round selection played a dozen games with the Sabres going pointless and spent the majority of his time in Rochester with the AHL's Americans, where he registered seven goals and 28 points in 37 games. Brendan Ross

November 2013 - Well that didn't take long. Since the new hierarchy has taken over in Buffalo they have made several moves and one of them was recalling the youngster McNabb. McNabb has been a steadying presence on the Americans blueline playing a very dependable two-way game. He has stormed out of the gates with two goals ten assists through his first 15 games played. The hope is that McNabb can help improve the teams goals against as the Sabres currently sit tied for 28th in goals scored against and certainly will need to improve on that if they want to avoid alienating their fan base. Travis Watson

November 2013 - McNabb currently sits sixth in league scoring for defencemen in the AHL. He is off to a blistering start for the Americans with ten points already through eight games to date which means his 1.25ppg average is almost two times the pace he finished last season at 0.58 PPG. With the current situation in Buffalo and the lack of offense they are currently getting from the backend I wouldn't be surprised to see McNabb suiting up for the blue and gold at some point. In the meantime it is great to see one of the Sabres prospects making a big step forward and now we can just hope that he is able to continue this play as the season wears on and then takes advantage of his opportunity when given the chance. Travis Watson

January 2012 - Sabres prospect defenseman Brayden McNabb of the Rochester Americans became the fifth player in the Skills Competition’s 18-year history to crack triple digits in the CCM Hardest Shot contest, winning the event with a blast of 101.8 miles per hour. Brendan Ross

February 2012 – McNabb played four seasons in the WHL with Kootenay Ice. Made great development as began CHL career as a PIM leader, but later blossomed into an offensive D-man as well leading his team with 51 assists in 2010-11 campaign along with 21 goals. Hoping to show his all-around game at the next level has already gotten a taste of the NHL with Sabres in his rookie year. Weak skating stride might hinder his potential to a top four defensemen. Travis Watson

There are some limitations to his game (skating, for one) which will prevent McNabb from ever matching his AHL production, but a future as a second-pairing defenseman in all situations seems a very reasonable projection.

Prospect Ramblings

Catching you up on prospects moved or being shopped at the NHL trade deadline...plus some highlights from the prospect world.

Monday, March 1st, 2015

With Austin Wallace’s head buried in his textbooks preparing for his midterms (aka, watching “TradeCentre”) the two of us are swapping ramblings days so you’re stuck with me today covering Trade Deadline action.

While the focus will remain on prospects, I may feel inclined to spew out some opinions on deals that go down as well.

Touching on Yesterday’s mini-blockbuster with Arizona trading defenseman Keith Yandle to the Rangers for promising speedster Anthony Duclair, defenseman John Moore, New York’s 1st round pick in 2016 and a 2nd in 2015. This exemplifies a great hockey trade for two teams headed in two different directions. It also marks